Method for processing personal data

ABSTRACT

A system for recording designated physical activity during the period of activity by means of a digital timepiece carried by an athlete or user for subsequent playback after the activity via an audible transmission link to a digital computer for processing, analysis and display.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of the Applicant's U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/562,016 filed Nov. 22, 1995, entitled "MethodFor Processing Personal Data", now U.S. Pat. No. 5,719,825.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention.

The invention relates generally to a personal data source that isprogrammable for downloading to a personal computer for storage andfurther processing of the data and, more particularly, but not by way oflimitation, it relates to a data gathering wrist watch that is capableof transmitting stored data for download to a personal computer viaaudio transmission.

2. Description of the Prior Art.

The prior art includes a number of timepieces or wrist watches that haveadditional capabilities of data processing and storage, and suchtimepieces may include a plurality of ancillary timing functions thatare monitored by the timepiece. A personal computer may be utilized toreceive sensor data from a selected source for the purpose of furtherprocessing and/or storage of the selected data. Applicant is unaware ofany prior use of a timepiece to monitor physical activity for subsequentdownload via audio tone to a personal computer wherein the physicalactivity may be further processed, stored and/or printed out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a source mechanism carried on aperson's body that is programmed to store certain parameters of theperson's physical characteristics, parameters and work product whenunder stress, isolation or other inconvenience over a predetermined timeperiod; thereafter, the program source can be actuated to transmitaudibly the stored parameter data for reception by audio input hardwarein association with a personal computer that is programmed to analyze,evaluate, store, print out and the like, all of the performance or otherrelated data gathered during the predetermined time period.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide atimepiece for recording various of the bearer's performance parametersfor subsequent download and processing in a personal computer.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a timepiece tobe worn by such as a researcher through his various activities toprovide reliable recording of work data for subsequent download andanalysis.

It is yet further an object of the invention to provide a wrist bornetimepiece that is capable of monitoring and storing athletic informationsuch as a runner's date and time of workout, lap times, finish times,heart rate data, selected ECG data, etc.

Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide aprogrammable timepiece including piezoelectric tone generator that isactuatable to download all data parameters for a pre-determined timeperiod in audible code transmission.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be evident from thefollowing detailed description when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings that illustrate the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an idealized drawing of a timepiece in download proximity to apersonal computer having audible input capability;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a digital timepiece havingrequisite program, storage and transmission elements;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of the data process at the source or timepiece;and

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of the data process at the personal computer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates the basic scheme wherein a portable source such as atimepiece 10, for example a multiple data digital wrist watch, storesselected data for subsequent readout. One form of readout would be theaudible "beeps" producing audio energy 12 that is subject to pickup by amicrophone 14 for input to a standard type of personal computer 16. Thetimepiece 10 may be any type of digital instrument that is controlled bya microprocessor and that contains a piezoelectric element for producingbeep tone for signal transmission purposes. The personal computer 16,e.g., an IBM, Apple or any of many other PC computers, is equipped withthe hardware package 18 connected via cable 20 to the microphone 14. Thecomputer 16 is then capable of capturing audio energy as well as beingable to reproduce sound such as music, voice or tone through externalspeakers. The audio hardware with audio port is sometimes built-in tothe original PC equipment 16; however, it often is added in the form ofa sound card or board that is compatible with the particular computer.Computer 16 may also be equipped with the output display 22.

The timepiece 10, as shown in FIG. 2, includes an internalmicroprocessor 24 that provides the basic clock count for the timepiece.The microprocessor 24 may also control a program storage 26 operating inconjunction with internal random access memory, and a piezoelectricelement 28 is capable of producing selected tone output. Thus, the piezoelement 28 is utilized to provide the "beep" tone such as that producedfor alarms and such by most digital wrist watches. It can also be usedunder control of a program stored in storage 26 and operating throughmicro-processor 24 to transmit stored data for pickup by the microphone14 and further processing, storage, comparison and the like within thepersonal computer 16.

A watch program resident in program storage 26 controls the operation ofthe timepiece 10. This software typically allows the user access to thefeatures and functions of the timepiece 10 as they are controlled by thewatch program and include such as setting the time, setting alarms,starting a stop watch, and maintaining a record of various datagathering, athletic or running activities of the athlete or user. Thetimepiece 10 is particularly useful to runners and aerobicists since thevarious timing functions of timepiece 10 enable storage of such as dateand time of workout, lap time, finish times, and progressive heart ratedata, ECG-specifics, etc. as the workout proceeds. The user can gathersuch information and then play it back via the audible beep transmissionthrough microphone 14 (FIG. 1) for further processing and/or finalrecording and display at personal computer 16. This enables variousresults of the user to be compared over a longer period of time toderive progress evaluation and the like.

The present invention employs the general process of transmitting datafrom a wrist watch using the piezoelectric element 28, and receivingthat data with a personal computer 16 that is equipped with necessaryaudio hardware 18 and microphone 14. A watch program in storage 26enables the user to initiate audio data transmission, as will be furtherdescribed, while the program also determines the data to be transmittedin accordance with the built-in functions that the process is being madeto serve. The watch program controls the piezo element 28 and encodesdata elements (databits) into the sounds produced by the piezo element28. Many standard methods of encoding are currently used in datacommunications of this nature, but two primary examples of such methodsare DFSK (dual frequency shift keying) modulation and CW (continuouswaveform) modulation. These are well known methods: in DFSK, a highfrequency tone can indicate a "1" databit while a low frequency toneindicates a "0" databit; and, in CW modulation, a tone of any fixedfrequency indicates a "1" databit while silence indicates the "0"databits. The databits, whether encoded "0" or "1", are all of the sameduration.

The data transmission begins with a uniform initiation sequence. This isa sequence of databits in a predetermined pattern. An example of anacceptable pattern would be "1010". Actual data may then be transmittedimmediately after the initiation sequence. The actual data follows thesame rules as the initialization sequence databits as far as durationand modulation schemes are concerned. There are no conditions placed onthe actual content, format, or protocol of the data that is beingtransmitted as the watch program is constrained to send the data in thesame audio format and protocol as the personal computer programfunctions to receive the data.

The PC program allows the user to place the personal computer 16 into adatacom receive mode wherein the microphone 14 is capturing the sound 12emanating from the timepiece 10. The PC program allows the user toterminate the receive mode after the watch has finished transmitting.The PC program can then analyze the captured audio file and demodulatethe audio sample for conversion to binary data. This is done based on aselected modulation scheme. From the pre-established initiationsequence, a determination can be made of (1) the duration of each databit (i.e., number of samples) and (2) the specific frequency (orsilence) used to indicate a "1" numeral or a "0" numeral data bit. ThePC program can interpret the converted data according to thepre-established format and protocol to which the watch has beendesigned, and this means that both the watch and the personal computerare programmed to agree on the data format.

FIG. 3 illustrates the functional flow diagram for the time-piece 10portion of the transmission system. The word "source" is used toidentify the timepiece 10 or comparable element, and the broad referenceis selected because in some cases the transmitter element may be atotally hybrid microprocessor-driven electronic assembly that is carriedby the user and capable of a very large number of timing and physicalassessments for storage and transmission. Thus, it should be understoodthat a "source" is the equivalent of the FIG. 2 illustration of themicroprocessor-driven digital timepiece.

Referring to FIG. 3, a first flow step 30 indicates the process of datagathering by the source and, as previously stated, the source storesgathered data for further downloading. Such data may include variousforms of user data relating to a particular field job or athleticworkout and resulting physical effects. The data is stored in the sourceat flow stage 32 and, according to the type of program sequencing, suchdata may be stored in program storage 26 or in the microprocessor 24internal storage (see FIG. 2). When the current task or workout isterminated, data creation ceases and the stored data in the source isready for download at a designated location that includes audible pickupequipment 14-18 and personal computer 16 (FIG. 1).

As at flow stage 34, the user positions the source for audibletransmission adjacent microphone 14 at the playback station so that thecoded beeps (audio energy 12) emanate from the source or timepiece 10into the microphone 14. Download transmission is initiated at flow stage36 by giving a command to the timepiece or source to-commence thedownload function. This command may be given by the user pressingbuttons on the source, or by the personal computer 16 sendinginstructions to the source via a PC-to-source communication channel(optional). Such command may include instructions on the specific datato be downloaded, or it may simply request that all stored data bedownloaded.

Logic circuitry in the source, e.g., microprocessor 24 controlled byprogram storage 26, accomplishes the transmission of data as a series of"beeps" in predetermined code formation emanating from timepiece 10 orother source. As at flow stage 38 the data to be downloaded isdetermined and this may be based on either the command received atinitiation, or the internal logic that allows the source code todetermine the string of data bytes that it will transmit. In flow stage40, the uniform initiation sequence is transmitted and this sequence isa recognizable pattern of zeros and ones that is predetermined. Thesequence is anticipated by the PC program as an indication of the startof data transmission as each bit of the sequence is encoded as a tone orsilence, and the source piezoelectric element is controlled to representeach bit in turn. Each bit is represented by a given state of thepiezoelectric element for an equal duration of time. That is, the sourcesends a sequence of "11010" as four ten millisecond intervals: that is,tone on, off, on, off.

A protocol sequence may then be transmitted next as at flow stage 42.Depending on the protocol previously agreed upon by the source user andthe PC program, the watch or source may next transmit bytes of data thatindicate the meaning of the data to be sent, i.e., how many bytes ofdata to expect or other pertinent facts about the transmission. Forexample, with no break in the timing from the transmission of previousinitiation sequence bits, the source may transmit a special byte toindicate that the transmission will consist of 27 data bytes plus onechecksum byte. Thereafter, stored data is transmitted via flow stage 44as stored data is transmitted bit-by-bit as audible tones by means ofthe piezoelectric element 28. Each bit of the actual data is encoded asa tone or silence, and the source piezo element 28 is controlled torepresent each by a given piezoelectric state for an equal andestablished duration of time. Thus, with no break in the timing fromtransmission of previous bits, the source transmits each bit of 27 databytes with the most significant bit first (MSB). Optionally, a closingsequence may be transmitted as at stage 46 to allow verification oftransmitted data. With no break in the timing from transmission ofprevious bits, the source may transmit each bit of the checksum bytethereby to provide verification. Flow stage 48 ends transmissionwhereupon all data has been audibly transmitted and the source ortimepiece is allowed to fall back into normal operating state.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the personal computer 16 is programmed forresponse to the source. At flow stage 50, the personal computer is firstinitialized to prepare for capture of transmitted audio energy from thesource. The user may execute a program on the PC which controls theaudio hardware 18 (FIG. 1) and necessary setup commands are executed inpreparation for receiving the audio waveforms. The sampling rate, inputchannel allocation and gain settings are all established. Flow stage 52sees commencement of the audio capture operation as the user employs amouse or keyboard to issue a command to the program that is running onthe PC to begin audio capture operation. The PC program is set up toinstruct the audio hardware 18 to initiate a continuous audio capturemode and this continuous mode will remain in effect until the userinstructs the program to terminate the mode, or until the programterminates under control of its resident logic.

After transmission begins from the source, and the download function hascommenced, the audio information captured by the audio hardware isretained either in random access memory or as a file on disk by the PCprogram as indicated at flow step 54. This data will then be availableto the PC program during the next step, that of conversion ordemodulation of the audio information to binary data. Thus, if the audiohardware was in capture mode for ten seconds, and it was sampling at arate of 5 Khz with a resolution of 8 bits (one byte) per sample, theprogram would have a resulting temporary file size of 10 times 5000bytes, or 50,000 bytes.

The flow stage 56 functions to end the audio capture operation. Afterall data transmission has been accomplished, the continuous audiocapture mode is terminated and the PC program resets the audio hardwareto an idle state. At flow stage 58, the PC program logic analyzes thecaptured, digitized audio file to identify the waveform representationsof specific bits, and to collect them into an exact re-creation of theoriginal data as it was stored in the source or timepiece.

The PC program scans the digitized audio file progressively from thebeginning in flow stage 60 until it finds the waveform representation ofthe designated initiation sequence. During the development of the sourceprogramming, the exact initiation sequence was specified and istherefore recognizable by the PC program. By identifying the sequence ofbits, the PC program determines facts required for the further analysisof the audio file. The scan finds the starting point of the data whichis a specified time after the initiation sequence. The scan thendetermines the number of samples that are taken for a single bitrepresentation. For example, if the original initiation sequence was"1010", the program may identify it as 50 samples of tone, followed by50 samples of silence, 50 of tone, and 50 of silence. This will thenestablish that each data bit in the remainder of the file will also berepresented by 50 samples.

Flow stage 62 then functions to analyze the audio data and convert tooriginal data. The PC program scans the remainder of the audio file and,using the decoding information extracted from the initiation sequence,analyzes the information to derive the stream of individual data bits("1"s and "0"s). The individual data bits are then converted to bytes ofdata according to the sending protocol that was used for the audibletransmission. For example, if bytes are transmitted MSB first and eachbit is 50 samples, a series of eight 50-sample segments can reconstructa byte of the original transmitted data. If continuous waveform (CW)encoding is used, each 50-sample segment is evaluated to determine if atone is present. If so, the bit is then a 1, otherwise it is a "0". Allsegments in the file may be evaluated in this manner until all areconverted to data bits and full bytes of data are reconstructed.

At flow stage 64, an optional step compares the retrieved data with ann-byte checksum or similar mechanism that is sent after the last byte ofactual data. If the transmitted data does not verify correct, this willbe determined in flow stage 66 whereupon a negative response causes flowto revert to the flow stage 50 for re-initialization of the personalcomputer thereby to restart the entire process from the beginning ofdownload. If verification is affirmative at decision stage 66, flow isvia the affirmative branch to flow stage 68 where the result of thedownload is stored as data in a file; or, incorporated into a data baseor any application software or data storage scheme.

In operation, the audio transmission system may be employed variouslyfor the purpose of gathering data. A source or timepiece might be usedby a runner in training to gather performance data for latertransmission playback into a central computer for analysis andrecording. Alternatively, a data source may be carried by other datacollectors such as a meter reader or a scientist gathering data at aremote site. In any event, once the data gathering is complete, it isonly necessary to proceed to the central computer location or home baseto complete the data down-loading and evaluation steps.

The foregoing discloses a novel system for recording physical activitydata during the activity so that the data can be later downloaded to acentral computer for the purpose of analysis, graphic display, printout, and entry into permanent records for future comparison. Certainreadily constructed data is especially valuable for a runner in trainingbecause he is able to maintain continual comparison of specific dataaccomplishments thereby to establish improvement over a period of time.The runner is able to record not only the speed-related parameters suchas distance times, limited lap times, and beginning and ending speedrates, but also such physical activity as pulse/heart rate and othersensed physical condition data.

Changes may be made in the combination and arrangement of elements asheretofore set forth in the specification and shown in the drawings; itbeing understood that changes may be made in the embodiments disclosedwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedin the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for recording predetermined personal data relating to a user and subsequently transmitting the personal data to an external computer having means for receiving and processing coded audio tones, said system comprising:a time piece having at least one timing function when carried by the user; a memory functioning in coaction with said time piece; means sensing selected personal data and storing said personal data in said memory; and audible means communicating with said memory for subsequently transmitting the stored personal data as coded audio tones to the external computer.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein said audible means comprise a piezoelectric element.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein said time piece comprises a wristwatch.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein said personal data comprises data regarding the user's heart rate.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein said personal data comprises ECG data for the user.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein said coded audio tones are modulated using continuous wave modulation.
 7. The system of claim 1 wherein said coded audio tones are modulated using frequency shift keying modulation.
 8. A method for storing and evaluating predetermined personal data relating to a user during an activity, comprising:providing the user with a time piece; recording predetermined personal data during the user's activity to produce a stored indication in said time piece; playing back said stored indication in the form of coded audio tones after the sure's activity; receiving said coded audio tones for input to a computer; and processing the coded audio tones to analyze said personal to data.
 9. A method of claim 8 wherein said coded audio tones are generated by a piezoelectric element.
 10. The method of claim 8 wherein said time piece comprises a wristwatch.
 11. The method of claim 8 wherein said personal data comprises data regarding the user's heart rate.
 12. The method of claim 8 wherein said personal data comprises ECG data for the user.
 13. The method of claim 8 wherein said coded audio tones are modulated using continuous wave modulation.
 14. The method of claim 8 wherein said coded audio tones are modulated using frequency shift keying modulation. 